Walking in the Shadows
by Zana G. Nicholson
Summary: Sequel to What If, or can be read seperately! Hope u like it, chapter 7 is up, concluding the main events. Sirius is on a mission, to destroy the Dementors of Azkaban....R&R!
1. The Journey Begins

It was midnight. The Witching Hour, and on this dark, windy night in May, seven particular magical beings were camped in the middle of a moor; five wizards, including one who was also a werewolf, and two witches. All of them were sleeping, except one of the wizards, who kept watch by the small, dying fire.  
  
Sirius Black peered around him, clutching his knife in his hand, alert to even the tiniest of noises. He had volunteered to watch while everyone else slept, because sleep gave him no comfort-the moment he closed his eyes, he was plagued by dreams in which his friends battled Lord Voldemort, and he could do nothing to help. He was haunted by the fear that some of his friends may have died in the battle the day he and his comrades departed from Grimmauld Place. He was also haunted by his godson Harry's face, when he had last seen Sirius.  
  
On the whole, it was much easier to stay awake.  
  
It was two weeks since Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Severus Snape, Bill Weasley, Nymphadora Tonks, Oliver Wood and Eva Cleansweep had started their deadly mission. They were travelling to the fortress of Azkaban, to try and destroy a silver orb-the source of all the Dementors' powers. Sirius had been there before, and knew the horrors which lay ahead. He shivered at the very thought.  
  
He turned his knife over and over in his hands. He had discovered, after the battle at Grimmauld Place, that the knife alays returned to him magically. He had used the knife to kill a Death Eater, and left it embedded in the man's chest, but shortly after they had escaped from Grimmauld Place, it had reappeared in his pocket. He was not surprised that it was magical-after all, it had come from the land of the dead, beyond the veil. The blade never became blunt, or dull. Sirius was grateful that at least he had a magical weapon, even if he no longer had any powers.  
  
He looked around his comrades, in their sleeping bags (conjured up by Bill) and sighed. He felt useless when he watched them cast spells, and saw Tonks alter her appearance. Having no magic was a difficult thing to get used to, but every time he considered moaning about it, he pictured the look on Harry's face if his godfather really had died in the Department of Mysteries, instead of trading his magic for his life. The thought steeled his nerves and made him think positively.  
  
The journey had been relatively easy so far-mostly trekking across country, occasionally using routes which were invisible to Muggles. Oliver Wood's injuries from the battle had been quickly cured by Snape, but progress had still been slow for the first few days, due to poor weather and very pessimistic attitudes. But on the whole, things hadn't been so bad.  
  
The most difficult part was learning to put up with Snape. Sirius made a face at his childhood enemy in the dark. Snape seemed determined to make life hell for everyone, but especially Sirius. Of course, Sirius had responded with his fists and, on one particularly painful occasion, a headbutt. Snape had not dared to rile him after that. Sirius just hoped the peace would last.  
  
He checked his watch. It was almost one o'clock. He stood and stretched. It was time to start walking again-normally, they slept all day and walked all night, but Remus was taking time to recover from the full moon, so they had decided to rest for longer than usual. Now, it was time to wake them up.  
  
Sirius crept over to Remus and shook him gently. His friend looked ill and exhausted-there was a long gash above his right eye where, as a werewolf, he had accidentally scratched himself. He opened one eye, and moaned.  
  
'Time to move on, Moony', Sirius hissed, offering Remus his hand. Remus took it, and stood up, yawning.  
  
'You look awful', he remarked, studying Sirius, who shrugged and looked away.  
  
'I'm just tired', he answered truthfully, then added with a grin 'you're not looking too pretty yourself.'  
  
'I never am', Remus said, in mock sorrowful tones, 'come on, let's get the others up. I'll wake Severus, I don't want you laying a finger on him today. That headbutt looked really sore.'  
  
'Yeah', Sirius replied proudly, striding over to Bill, and tugging his ponytail until he woke up with a yell.  
  
'Ouch! What time is it?' Bill yawned, giving Sirius a dead arm before crawling out of his sleeping bag.  
  
'One AM', Sirius whispered, shaking Oliver Wood to wake him up, 'we need to start walking if we want to make Helga's Hollow by dawn.'  
  
Remus was doling out oranges to everyone. 'Breakfast is served', he said, making a face.  
  
As a child, Sirius had vowed never to eat another orange, after his mother practically forced him to eat he pieces of orange from his fruit salad, even though she knew he hated them. Now, he was left with little choice but to eat the sweet oranges Remus carried. As he sucked on one of the segments, he stamped the fire out, and kicked soil and moss over their tracks, while Oliver magically restored the trampled grasses to their proper height. When the two had finished, there was no sign that anybody had ever camped there.  
  
These tasks completed, the party headed due south, towards Helga's Hollow.  
  
Helga's Hollow was named after the famous co-founder of Hogwarts, Helga Hufflepuff. It was on the moors, across which the group now travelled. It was a small valley, entirely surrounded by silver birch trees, and was said to be the birthplace of that famous witch. Her mother and father, knowing the powerful witch she would grow up to be (a prophecy was made about her), had laid many strong enchantments on the hollow, so that nothing or nobody could harm Helga as long as she lived under their roof. It was a difficult place to find, but widely acknowledged as a safe haven for all good, kind witches and wizards. It was also one of the last safe magical places before the wastelands started-those desolate lands lay approximately one hundred miles south of Helga's Hollow.  
  
It was Oliver Wood, with his keen eyesight, who spotted the silver birch trees on the horizon. As the sun came up, the party finally reached Helga's Hollow, and passed through the trees into the valley.  
  
'Wow!' Tonks breathed. The valley was truly beautiful; a small stream flowed through it, next to which stood an ancient stone cottage, with only half a roof, and pigeons nesting in the windows. The grass was a lush green, and daisies and various wildflowers danced in the breeze. Bill let out a whoop of joy, and raced over to inspect the cottage, while Tonks, Oliver and Remus went to the stream, to drink the spring water.  
  
'This is like paradise!' Sirius murmured. As a man who had spent thirteen years in a hellish prison, and a further three years in hiding in various dark, damp caves, this place was heaven.  
  
Bill emerged from the cottage, grinning. 'This place is cool', he stated, 'there's food inside, and proper beds! Must be some sort of charm on the cottage, 'cos on the inside, it doesn't look like the roof's broken.'  
  
'Excellent!' Sirius exclaimed, 'how long will we stay for, Remus?'  
  
'Why are you asking me?' Remus asked, looking amused.  
  
Sirius shrugged. 'You're good at taking decisions.'  
  
Remus laughed. 'I think we should elect a leader', he announced loudly.  
  
'Oh Remus', Tonks cried exasperatedly, poking her head out of the cottage window, 'leave that 'til later! Come and look at the cottage, it's amazing!'  
  
Remus and Sirius wandered over to the tumbledown cottage, and opened the heavy wooden door.  
  
'Wow', Sirius gasped. The cottage really was amazing! It was huge on the inside ('must be a hidden depth spell', remarked Bill) , and there was every home comfort one could imagine: a cheery fire crackling in the huge, ancient hearth; a long settee, and several large armchairs and footstools; a row of cupboards, packed with food of every kind. At the far end of the long room were seven large, comfortable-looking beds, with plump pillows and spare sets of robes laid on each bed. There were several spellbooks, a Foe Glass, a copy of the Daily Prophet from that day, and a note, written in a beautiful, sloping hand:  
  
Welcome, Order of the Phoenix  
  
It is a pleasure me to be able to give you some well-earned rest and luxuries. I hope you enjoy yourselves. Stay as long as you wish, and take whatever you want.  
  
Yours,  
  
The Keeper of Helga's Hollow.  
  
'Someone knows we're here', Bill gasped, looking shocked.  
  
Remus nodded, apparently unconcerned. 'Helga's Hollow is guarded by a Keeper-it is his job to know who comes here, and to provide them with whatever they need-provided their intentions are good. A Death Eater couldn't enter the hollow-the trees would prevent him, Whomping Willow- style!'  
  
'So where is this keeper guy?' Oliver asked, taking a chocolate biscuit from the biscuit tin.  
  
'Oh, nobody ever sees him', Tonks stated, 'but he always knows exactly what you'll need.'  
  
'Weird', Bill shook his head in disbelief.  
  
Meanwhile, Snape was eyeing the house, with an expression on his face that made it look like he was sucking on a lemon.  
  
'What's up, Snivellus?' Sirius asked testily, 'is this place not good enough for you?'  
  
'I do not trust my life to mysteries as easily as the rest of you', the Potions Master declared loftily, 'I have discovered that it is unwise to accept anything unless you know and understand its source.'  
  
Sirius said something very rude, which made Eva click her tongue disapprovingly. 'Get over yourself, Snivellus', he groaned, 'just relax- this place is renowned for its hospitality. Oliver just ate a biscuit, and he hasn't been poisoned yet, has he? And Tonks is sitting in an armchair, but it hasn't chewed her up and spat her remains back out, has it?'  
  
Snape gave Sirius a withering look. 'May I remind you, Black', he said, smirking, 'that if anything unpleasant does happen, you are relying on the rest of us for your protection, seeing as you are practically a Muggle, and therefore useless in a crisis.'  
  
Everyone fell silent. An argument between Sirius and Snape usually ended in Snape being punched-a show nobody wanted to miss. Sirius took a deep breath, and counted to ten, before pulling his knife from his robes, and holding it up for Snape to see.  
  
'I wonder', Sirius said softly, in a deadly tone of voice, 'if you'd think this knife was so useless if it was pointed at your heart. Imagine, Severus, what would happen if my hand...slipped.'  
  
Swiftly and deftly, Sirius changed his grip on the knife and made a stabbing motion through the air, until the knife was a hair's breadth away from Snape's heart. Nobody moved; nobody even breathed. Beads of perspiration formed on Snape's pale, greasy face, and he swallowed hard.  
  
'I don't like you, Severus', Sirius hissed, holding the knife tightly, 'to be quite frank, I can't even stand the sight of you. And if you make one wrong move, or make one more stupid reference to my lack of magical ability...let's just say useless old me will find a nice place in your heart for my useless old knife. Get the picture?'  
  
Snape gave Sirius a look filled with such loathing that a lesser man would have backed down. But not Sirius. He held his knife steady, and glared back at his childhood enemy. 'I get the picture', Snape snarled at last, stepping away from Sirius, and striding out of the cottage, seething with rage. Sirius nodded, and put the knife back inside his robes. He then turned slowly to face his comrades, expecting them to chastise him at once. But as he looked at each of them in turn, he saw only admiration and respect in their faces.  
  
'What?' He said huskily.  
  
'Nice one, Sirius', Tonks whispered awefully, 'you sure told him where to go!'  
  
'You weren't actually gonna...were you?' Bill asked, gazing at Sirius, a look of ecstasy on his face, 'Either way, I'm going to treausre that moment for ever...'  
  
'I wouldn't have done anything to him', Sirius admitted, 'I just couldn't resist the temptation. He just doesn't realise that magic isn't the only weapon in the world. He needs to shut up and get over the fact that I have no magic-I mean, I can still beat him in a fair fight!'  
  
Remus chuckled. 'It was nicely done, I must admit', he remarked, 'but is it wise to have open hostility between you two?'  
  
'He'll ignore me for a few days-give himself time to lick his wounds', Sirius spat contemptuously, 'if he starts annoying me again...well, it's his own funeral-literally!'  
  
'Sirius!' Eva sounded shocked, 'you shouldn't talk like that! You of all people, who spent thirteen years in prison for murders you didn't commit, shouldn't talk about murder so lightly!'  
  
'Eva, do you remember how Snivellus cursed me every time he saw me?' Sirius asked coolly, 'or how he was constantly snooping around me, James, Remus and that scumbag Peter? Or how he was a Death Eater, but apparently reformed? No, Severus Snape would be no loss to the human race.'  
  
'Still doesn't mean you can kill him', Eva argued, 'he's on our side now.'  
  
'Or so we believe', Bill interrupted darkly.  
  
'Oh, can we just forget about Professor Snape?' Oliver begged, 'my memories of Potions class are still too fresh! We should be relaxing and enjoying ourselves, while we've still got the chance!'  
  
'Hmm', Eva mumbled.  
  
Sirius rolled his eyes and sighed impatiently. 'I promise you I won't kill him, Eva', he said in a bored voice.  
  
Eva looked up at him, and gave him a small smile. 'I'll hold you to that', she replied quietly.  
  
Since their journey had started, neither Eva nor Sirius had mentioned the kiss they shared while Sirius was in a Muggle hospital. Sometimes, the atmosphere between the two was quite tense, while at others, they shared glances and smiled knowingly at one another. Sirius knew that now was not the time to start dating the girl he had liked since his days at Hogwarts. That could wait until after the mission. Assuming they both survived.  
  
The evening passed pleasantly for everyone except Snape, who sat in the furthest corner from Sirius, glaring at the ceiling. Tonks entertained everybody by changing her appearance to look like people they all knew (her best was the imitation of Molly Weasley). Bill regailed them with stories about his time spent in Egypt as a Curse Breaker for Gringotts Bank. Oliver, who had remained relatively quiet throughout the journey so far, gave very animated accounts of the quidditch matches he had played in at Hogwarts. These were of particular interest to Sirius, as Harry was a central feature of many of the matches in Oliver's career. Next, Remus, Eva and Sirius related their memories of Hogwarts and its teachers, compared with the school during their younger comrades' years. It was four o'clock in the morning before they finally went to bed.  
  
*************  
  
The seven travellers spent three more days in Helga's Hollow, dreading the moment when they would eventually have to move onwards into the wilderness. Snape stayed well clear of Sirius , while Oliver, on the other hand, followed Sirius around, treating him like some sort of hero or role model. It was the first time in Sirius' adult life that anyone had ever admired him, and aspired to be like him, so he took a special interest in Oliver, and to a certain extent, took him under his wing.  
  
It was early in the evening of the third day when disaster struck.  
  
Bill had been standing at the top of the hollow, surveying the surrounding area, when Sirius heard him let out a sharp cry.  
  
'There's a load of Death Eaters headed this way-oh no!'  
  
'What is it?' Sirius asked sharply, scrambling up the bank, together with Remus and Tonks.  
  
Bill came crashing through the trees towards them, pale and shaking. 'There are about forty Dementors following them, about a mile behind.' He told them, looking terrified.  
  
Cursing under his breath, Sirius ran past the trees, and gazed out at the land around him. There, on the horizon, was a sight that filled him dread. His heart dropped liked a stone, and his stomach felt as though it were full of cement; an army of black-robed figures was fast approaching Helga's Hollow.  
  
'We won't have a chance if we stay here!' He called back to the others, 'they obviously know we're here, they'll encircle us and trap us in the hollow! We have to run!'  
  
Remus nodded silently, tight-lipped, and ran back to the cottage to alert the others.  
  
And for the first time in two weeks, Sirius realised that his knife would be of little use here. He followed Remus into the cottage, while Tonks and Bill stayed to observe the progress of Voldemort's supporters.  
  
'Don't worry', Remus assured Sirius, seeing the look on his friend's face, 'I can conjure a Patronus strong enough to protect us both.'  
  
'But you can't hold the Patronus and fight the Death Eaters at the same time!' Sirius protested.  
  
'You heard what Bill said', Remus replied, stuffing his belongings into his rucksack, 'the Dementors are about a mile behind. Hopefully, we will have dealt with all the Death Eaters by the time they arrive.'  
  
'Unless...' Sirius was feeling pessimistic, 'remember last time, the Death Eaters often fought side by side with the Dementors, and we realised that the Dementors had an agreement with Voldemort-they'd get the souls of the enemies, as long as they didn't prevent the Death Eaters from doing their dirty deeds. The Dementors must be able to turn their 'charms' on and off as they please.'  
  
'Controlled by the orb, no doubt', Remus added thoughtfully, 'well, we'll just have to live with whatever comes. If we have to deal with Death Eaters and Dementors together, so be it.'  
  
'I wish I had your attitude', Sirius groaned.  
  
Everyone was in the cottage now. Tonks, Bill, Eva and Oliver, who had never dealt with a host of Dementors before, looked terrified. Snape looked determined and tense, while Remus looked calm and somewhat resigned. He was the first to speak;  
  
'We need a leader', he said, repeating his idea from a few days ago, 'this is a battle, and we need a general. Let's take a vote. I vote for Sirius.'  
  
Sirius began to laugh, but then realised it was not a joke. 'I vote for Remus', he said promptly.  
  
'I vote for Sirius', Oliver added.  
  
'Me too', Eva said, smiling.  
  
'I vote for Remus or Sirius', Bill said, shrugging, 'either one would make a great leader.'  
  
'Same here-one of you two should lead us', Tonks agreed.  
  
Snape grimaced. 'My vote must go to Lupin', he said coldly, 'although I do not believe he will make a successful leader.'  
  
'So Sirius, you got three straight votes, and two maybes.' Remus said, grinning, 'I think you should lead.  
  
'You got two straight votes, and either of the maybes could go to you!' Sirius argued.  
  
'Well I don't want to lead', Remus retorted, 'so it has to be you.'  
  
Sirius' jaw dropped. He grinned weakly. 'Do you people honestly want to trust me with your lives?'  
  
'Can't think of a better leader, Sirius', Remus stated, 'you know the Dementors better than any of us, you've fought in a war against these people before, you're confident and not afraid to speak your mind. So, General Black, what are your orders?'  
  
Standing amidst his peers, listening to Remus' praise, Sirius felt ten feet tall. He swallowed hard and looked around at the five trusting and one sneering face.  
  
'I say we stand around the trees at the top of the bank', he announced, 'and we make a stand.'  
  
It was approaching midnight when the minions of Lord Voldemort reached the hollow. Sirius and the others stood in the shadowsof the trees, Sirius with his knife at the ready, the rest with their wands. Sure enough, the Death Eaters waited for the Dementors to join them before moving closer to the hollow. Sirius felt all his bravado and ferocity being drained for him, adn being replaced by hopelessness and despair. He could wait no longer.  
  
'NOW!' He bellowed.  
  
For those seven witches and wizards, the war now began. 


	2. The Trick of Death

'NOW' Sirius bellowed.  
  
Chaos erupted in the area around Helga's Hollow: Remus immediately roared 'EXPECTO PATRONUM!' and a huge, silver wolf exploded from the end of his wand, and charged at the Dementors. Snape, Oliver and Tonks fired dozens of stunning spells into the darkness, one after the other.  
  
The Death Eaters had not realised that they had been spotted, and were not ready for the ambush. The loss of the Dementors (who were being held some fifty yards away by Remus' patronus) confused them and put them off their stride; but not for long. They responded with Killing Curses and Cruciatus Curses within seconds.  
  
In the pitch black, all that could be seen was jets of different coloured light streaming across the battlefield, and the ghostly glow of the patronus cast by Remus. Sirius knew that it would be hopeless to fight in this way-nobody could see where they were aiming at all. Dodging between the trees, he stretched out his arms, feeling for any of his friends. He touched material, and hissed 'who is it?'  
  
'Snape', grunted that familiar cold voice, 'what is it, Black? I'm trying to duel, in case you haven't noticed.'  
  
Sirius ignored his biting remark, asking quickly; 'how long d'you think we can hold them for?'  
  
'Ten minutes? Ten hours? How should I know?' Snape spat at Sirius, ducking to avoid a well-aimed stunner, 'and don't use my name-after I'm finished with this shambles of a mission, I may have to go back to my work as a spy. I don't want some fool like you destroying everything!'  
  
Sirius resisted the temptation to strangle Snape, and hurried on around the glade, in search of another member of his team. By this time, the hollow was entirely surrounded by Death Eaters, while the Dementors hovered several hundred feet away, held back by the silver patronus of Remus Lupin.  
  
Sirius heard a scream of pain, followed by a series of low sobs, only a few feet in front of him. Dodging a Killing Curse, which struck one of the birch trees down like a bolt of lightning, Sirius felt in the darkness, looking for whoever had been injured.  
  
'Damnit, I need light!' He hissed desperately.  
  
And Helga's Hollow granted his request.  
  
Suddenly, all seven Order members could see clearly, although it was still pitch black. Sirius discovered that it was Tonks who had been hit by a Flame Hex, and cried out. He helped her to her feet, then peered out through the trees. The sight that greeted him made him draw breath sharply.  
  
Two rows of Death Eaters, their wands raised, stood around the hollow. Some had removed their masks, and Sirius recognised them, from previous encounters with Voldemort's forces. They were the Dark Lord's best men and women, who would do anything to help their master. Sirius suddenly felt a lot less confident.  
  
'We won't be able to hold them off for long', he whispered to Tonks, throwing his knife at the Death Eaters, and embedding it in one of their shoulders. Within seconds, it reappeared in his hand. 'Remus can't keep off all those Dementors by himself. I want you to go and help him-make the best Patronus you can. I'm getting an idea for a plan.'  
  
'Ooh', Tonks hissed excitedly, 'I love your plans. Right-o, I'll go help Remus.'  
  
'Thanks Tonks', Sirius grunted, throwing his knife again. Although it flew further and faster than any ordinary knife would, he still found his role in this fight tedious. He picked off several Death Eaters, helped by the fact that he could see so clearly into the still, black night.  
  
Many of the trees were on fire, and Oliver was racing around extinguishing the flames with his wand, when three Stunners from the enemy all hit him at once, in the head, chest and leg. He fell heavily, banging his head off the trunk of a tree, unconscious. It was Bill who found him (or rather, tripped over him) and alerted Sirius to the fact that they were one man down. And so Sirius quickly made a decision.  
  
'All of you, back to the Hollow!' He roared, not wanting to use names, or let the enemy know how many people they were fighting.  
  
'Tell me when you're all safe, then I'll let go', Remus panted as Sirius passed him and Tonks, 'go on Tonks, get into the Hollow.'  
  
Sirius waited and watched until the other five members of the party had disappeared into the Hollow, then whispered 'Now' to Remus.  
  
With a loud grunt, Remus stumbled backwards and allowed his Patronus to vanish. Immediately, the Dementors began to advance. Sirius felt a wave of sickness come over him, and he staggered through the trees and down into the valley, Peter Pettigrew's voice echoing in his head...'Lily and James, Sirius! How could you?'  
  
'Oh dear', Remus said weakly, tumbling down the bank into the Hollow after Sirius, 'that was close.'  
  
'And they can't come in?' Eva asked, nervously eyeing the trees.  
  
'Definitely not', Bill replied, shivering, as they all felt the presence of the Dementors around them, 'they're a force of evil.'  
  
Oliver moaned softly, and Sirius dropped to his knees beside him. Oliver's face was ashen, and expressionless. Sirius shook him gently, and whispered his name. There was no response.  
  
'That's exactly what happened to Minerva-but he's got a nasty bruise coming up on his head, he must have banged it off something', Bill observed, 'I'm sure that hasn't helped.'  
  
Sirius chewed his lip, and tried to shake off the depression that hovered around him like a fog, 'bring him inside. We'll just have to hope he'll be okay. Did you try reviving him?'  
  
'Used every incantation I know, and made up a few', Bill shook his head resignedly, 'c'mon, Remus, will you help me?'  
  
Remus nodded, and the two men carried Oliver carefully into the cottage. When they had returned, Sirius took a deep breath, and explained his final, desperate plan.  
  
**************  
  
'Ready?' Sirius asked nervously, standing up and glancing around at his comrades, who were all sitting cross-legged in front of a campfire.  
  
'Ready', they murmured.  
  
Dawn was approaching. The Dementors and Death Eaters had not left their positions around the Hollow-the Order members were besieged. It had been difficult to work on Sirius' plan with a horrible feeling of despair clinging to them, but they had little option. From time to time, Remus and Tonks sent their Patronuses to ward the Dementors off-but the evil creatures soon returned. It had taken five hours to finalise all the details of the plan, but it was ready at last.  
  
Sirius turned to Tonks, and nodded gravely. She swallowed hard, but smiled and scrambled to her feet. Sirius felt extremely grateful that she was not making this any more difficult for him than it had to be. She moved out of the light from the flames, and stood next to Sirius.  
  
'Good luck', she whispered bravely, although Sirius could hear her breathing coming shallow and fast. He clapped her on the back, and said 'thank you. I swear I wn't let anything happen to you.'  
  
'Mmm', Tonks nodded and smiled again.  
  
And so the plan was put into action.  
  
'Order of the Phoenix, rise to your feet!' Sirius cried, in a deep, throaty voice. Instantly, there was silence outside the Hollow, as the Death Eaters listened intently.  
  
Obediently, the four remaining members rose to their feet-they wore hooded robes now, and hid their faces from the light. Sirius raised his arms above his head, and proclaimed in a voice quite unlike his own:  
  
'Spirits of the Dead, come to our aid, avenge your deaths and live once more!'  
  
The others joined in the chant, slowly and methodically. On and on it went, getting faster each time. They began to move around the fire in a circle. Snape threw various concoctions onto the fire, making the flames change colour, and give off strange, heavy scents, not unlike the smell of incense. Then, Remus and Eva stepped out of the circle, and grabbed Tonks by the arms, propelling her towards the fire. At first, she let them lead her, but then quite suddenly, she began to kick and scream violently, calling for help. She elbowed Remus, and knocked Eva off her feet, before sprinting up the bank of the Hollow, straight into the clutches of the enemy.  
  
'Let her go!' Sirius called, as Remus made to pursue the young witch, 'if she wishes to die, then so be it! We will use another. Bring the boy from the cottage.'  
  
Remus nodded, and entered the cottage. Five minutes later, he emerged, dragging Oliver Wood by the armpits. He forced the boy to kneel in front of the fire, then Sirius stepped forward with his knife...  
  
********  
  
'Oh my...' Jacob Krane, Commander of the troop of Death Eaters, could not hide his shock. 'They beheaded the boy! Dropped his head in the fire!'  
  
Jacob heard footsteps approaching, and muffled sobs.  
  
'The girl who ran away, sir', growled one of his men, 'we caught her.'  
  
Jacob considered whether it was safe to light his wand, and concluded that the Order members were making such a racket, they probably wouldn't notice a little wand light.  
  
'Lumos', he muttered, holding his wand up to inspect the girl, who was being held tightly by two Death Eaters.  
  
She was a small, wiry sort of girl, with short blond hair and a pretty face. There was a look of terror in her eyes, and huge, gulping sobs racked her body.  
  
'Please', she gasped, 'please don't hurt me! That's why I ran away, please don't hurt me, please-oh!'  
  
The girl swayed on the spot, but was held up by the two burly men. Jacob stepped forward for a closer look.  
  
'Who are you?' He hissed threateningly, 'and what the devil is going on down there?'  
  
'L-Laura Payne', stammered the girl, 'they-they're t-trying to c-call on the D-Dead!'  
  
'What?' Jacob breathed, stunned.  
  
'They want to get the sp-spirits of everyone Y-you-Know-Who has k-killed', she spluttered, 'and make them f-fight you all!'  
  
'Why did they kill the boy? Why did they want to kill you?'  
  
'Th-they have to s-sacrifice a y-young man or w-woman for the sp-spell to work', the girl sobbed, 'it's a new spell, Dumbledore created it. He w- wanted us to t-try it out f-far from home. I didn't want to die, I had to run away. Please, stop them, I'm so scared!'  
  
Jacob considered the girl for a moment, then called forward one of the other Death Eaters. 'You're good with this mind-reading stuff', he snarled, 'tell me if the girl's lying.'  
  
The Death Eater grimaced. 'It's not mind reading', he corrected stiffly, 'it's seeking out the truth.'  
  
'Whatever', spat Jacob, 'just do it.'  
  
The Death Eater muttered the appropriate words under his breath, and met Tonk's gaze. After a few seconds, he sighed, and shook his head. 'She is too frightened to be lying', he concluded, 'what she says is true.'  
  
Jacob cursed loudly, and moved forwards to peer down into the Hollow. The small group was now chanting louder than ever, their arms raised, dancing, as though it was some sort of ritual. Before he could decide what to do, everything went black...  
  
**********  
  
After extinguishing the flames, Sirius knew they must act quickly. With a roar of triumph, he allowed Remus to alter all their voices, so that when they spoke, it sounded like fifty people were speaking instead of five.  
  
'Revenge', he hissed loudly, relishing the echo of his voice, 'we must have our revenge.'  
  
The battle was won before it even began again. The Death Eaters, many of whom had committed murder, were so afraid of retribution, that they fled as soon as word reached them about what was happening. The two Death Eaters who held Tonks loosened their grip, allowing her to slip away.  
  
Sirius and the others swooped down on the remaining Death Eaters, while Remus held the Dementors at bay once more. They shouted the names of many of the deceased members of the Order of the Phoenix, as they stunned and cursed every enemy in sight. Snape went berserk, casting the Killing Curse with gay abandon. Even Sirius was frightened when he saw Severus, white and tight-lipped, aiming Avada Kedavra at the heart of a Death Eater, killing him instantly.  
  
But there was no time to criticise the fighting tecniques of others. With his knife in his hand, Sirius killed several of his enemies, whispering one name before they died. Finally, he reached Commander Jacob Krane, who saw a tall, forbidding figure coming towards him, and aimed the Cruciatus Curse in his direction. Sirius easily avoided the curse, and grabbed Krane by the throat. He ripped the man's mask off, and laughed.  
  
'Jacob Krane. I thought I might see you here.'  
  
'Mercy, I beg of you, Mercy!' Jacob choked, as Sirius half-strangled him.  
  
'Do you want to know who I am?' Sirius hissed bitterly, 'don't you remember me? I played quidditch against you in school. You always did use foul methods to win.'  
  
'Who are you?' Jacob gasped, going purple in the face.  
  
Sirius held up the knife for Jacob to see. Before he plunged into the man's black heart, he whispered harshly into his ear:  
  
'I am James Potter.' 


	3. The Aftermath

The battle ended soon after Sirius' plan kicked into action. When all the Death Eaters were either dead, taken prisoner, or had run away, the members of the Order of the Phoenix all joined together (with the exception of Sirius) and drove the Dementors away with the Patronus charm. The first battle had ended, and the Order of the Phoenix had won.  
  
'Nice one, Sirius', Tonks cried, giving him a high-five and grinning. Once the commotion had begun, she had easily freed herself and joined the fray.  
  
'It went better than I expected', Sirius admitted, looking pleased.  
  
'What's going on?' A stunned voice asked from behind them.  
  
Sirius turned, and saw Oliver Wood standing in front of the trees, looking shell-shocked.  
  
'Why is there a body that looks distinctly like mine lying beside the fire?' He asked, pale and worried-looking.  
  
'Come on', Sirius called, indicating for everyone to return to Helga's Hollow, 'let's show him.'  
  
Remus and Bill led the ten captured Death Eaters, who were bound by magical rope from Remus' wand.  
  
'Remus, make sure those pieces of scum can't hear what I'm about to say.' Sirius ordered.  
  
Remus nodded, and with Bill's help, he placed a Deafening Charm on the captives.  
  
Sirius strode across the hollow to the decapitated body of Oliver Wood. He pulled the cloak off the corpse, and kicked it over onto its back.  
  
'Urgh!' Oliver choked, 'I think I'm gonna be sick. That's gross! How did you do that?'  
  
The body had Oliver torso, and one of his legs. Instead of arms, it had large, grey wings, and its other leg was skinny, and ended in a talon.  
  
'Three stunners hit you, so you were knocked out for hours. We locked you in the cottage so you couldn't come out and ruin the plan.  
  
'There were pigeons nesting in the windows of the cottage', Sirius explained, looking away from the disgusting sight, 'and I remembered Harry telling me something about Polyjuice Potion-when Hermione took it, and had added a cat hair, she ended up with fur and a cat's tail. So I thought, maybe it can work the other way around. Snape had some Polyjuice with him, and we force-fed the pigeon, after adding a hair from your robes to the potion. It turned into a half-Oliver, half-pigeon. We gave it a Sleeping Draught, so it wouldn't be scared, then pretended to be doing a spell to bring people back from the dead. We pretended that we were sacrificing a member of the group-that was the only authentic way we could think of, though completely unfair to the pigeon, poor thing.'  
  
'You should have seen its face', Snape added drily, 'your hair and eyes, but a beak instead of a mouth or nose.'  
  
Oliver turned slightly green, and dashed behind the cottage. Bill quickly cast a spell to get rid of the pigeon's body, and Eva cleaned up all the dried blood.  
  
'Do you remember when we were at school, the Seeker on the Ravenclaw team was always fouling James, and managed to get away with it?' Sirius murmured to Remus.  
  
'Yeah, why?' Remus asked interestedly, poking one of the Death Eaters hard, as he struggled against the ropes.  
  
'D'you remember his name?' Sirius asked quietly.  
  
'Yeah. Krane, wasn't it? Jacob Krane. Jinxed James one day, to stop him being able to play in the next match. James had barely recovered in time. He always was a jealous little worm, I didn't pay much attention to him. What about him?'  
  
'I killed him.'  
  
Remus almost let the magical ropes fall, he was so astonished. 'Y-you killed him?' He hissed, his jaw dropping, 'you mean he was here...tonight?'  
  
Sirius nodded. 'He appeared to be one of the men in charge. I thought I'd seen him fighting for Voldemort the last time, but I wasn't entirely sure. I was sort of looking for him.'  
  
'Why?' Remus looked puzzled.  
  
'Because James needed to get some revenge', Sirius replied, smiling ruefully, 'he's the only one I killed. I mean, I was very limited, having no magic. All I could do was wound or kill, and I thought we'd be better off with that conniving git dead. That way, his men had no leader.'  
  
'I understand', Remus said, nodding, 'but did you see what Snape was doing?'  
  
'Yeah', Sirius replied grimly, 'I'm gonna talk to him as soon as Oliver comes back.'  
  
*****************  
  
When Oliver returned, wiping his mouth on the sleeve of his robes and smiling weakly, Sirius called the little group to Order. 'Stick the prisoner in the cottage, and blindfold them', Sirius ordered Bill, who did so at once. Firstly, he turned to Snape.  
  
'What the hell were you doing out there?' He asked softly, dangerously.  
  
'Eliminating the enemy', Snape replied tersely, glaring at a point somewhere over Sirius' shoulder.  
  
'Eliminating the enemy', Sirius repeated angrily, 'ELIMINATING THE ENEMY? Don't you see? By doing that, you were making yourself every bit as bad as them! You took at least a dozen lives out there, and tortured the rest! Haven't you heard of Stunning? Or Limb-Locking? Or maybe transfiguring them into beetles?'  
  
'You killed one too', Snape hissed furiously, 'I saw you!'  
  
'I'm not denying it', Sirius responded quickly, 'but all I had was a knife, and that was settling an old score. You were just murdering everyone in your path, when you had the ability to disable them without making them corpses! Still working the way Voldemort taught you, eh?'  
  
'How dare you!' Snape cried, flinching at the mention of Voldemort's name.  
  
'I dare because I am charge of you lot now, and I won't have you acting that way!' Sirius retorted, 'quite aside from the fact that Dumbledore can't abide the use of the Unforgivable Curses, those people could have been useful to us!'  
  
Snape looked as though he was going to argue back, but then Sirius saw his hand move quickly to his arm-to the place where the Dark Mark was burned into his skin. The Potionsmaster bowed his head, and muttered, 'forgive me. I will not use such tactics again on this mission, without your express orders, Black.'  
  
While there was a hint of sarcasm in Snape's words, Sirius decided to accept them, while everybody else looked on in astonishment. 'Good. Thank you, Snape, I'll hold you to that. Now, we've wasted far too much time in this beautiful hollow. All of you, pack everything you can, and prepare the prisoners for travel-I'm sure they won't get far in a tight circle like that. And keep them blindfolded-remember, they can't see Snape! We depart in two hours!'  
  
And so, the triumphant party of enemies and friends left Helga's Hollow, the last safe haven before the horrors of Azkaban. 


	4. Don't Kill Bill!

'This is it', Bill murmured, squaring his shoulders.  
  
'Yup', Sirius said, in a falsely cheerful voice.  
  
'Lucky we haven't seen any Dementors', Tonks added, 'I'm glad the Death Eaters took them with them when they ran away.'  
  
'They're probably meeting at Azkaban to get reinforcements', remarked Remus, 'if they believed our Bringing-Back-The-Dead ruse, then they think Dementors would have no effect-you can't take happiness from something that's not alive.'  
  
'Let's just hope they continue to believe that.' Snape said, smiling thinly. Bill made a face as he looked at the Potionsmaster.  
  
'Couldn't you have made yourself look like someone who's not related to me?' he groaned.  
  
'Do you think I want to look like a member of your family? We want it to look as though this party is no threat', Snape snapped, 'so looking like your dear, brainless brother Charles seemed as good a way as any. Anyway, I only had samples for a few Order Members with me, and the rest are rather more powerful. Powerful figures will draw The Dark Lord's attention on us much sooner.'  
  
'But...Charlie!' Bill felt revolted, 'Charlie may not be top rank in the Order, but he's not stupid. I bet he's a a lot smarter than you are-all you can do is brew potions. And you're not so great looking yourself, Snivellus.'  
  
'Bill', Eva reprimanded him sharply, 'be quiet.'  
  
'It's weird hearing Snape's voice coming out of Charlie's mouth', Bill moaned, 'I'll never feel the same way about Charlie again!'  
  
'Shut up', Sirius ordered, 'all of you. I need to think.'  
  
They were standing on the edge of a cliff, which overlooked the dismal wastelands which they must cross. They had trekked along the entire cliff edge, and found no way to get down other than by climbing-for broomsticks will not work in such a foul, lifeless atmosphere as the wastelands. In fact, all forms of magic-except for potions, which don't involve wand use- are less potent in the lands of Azkaban.  
  
The prisoners had been of little use to them. Five of them were very young- obviously new recruits. Oliver Wood seemed to have a bone to pick with one of them in particular-a Marcus Flint, ex-captain of the Slytherin quidditch team. The rest were wizards who were not known to any of the company, and who seemed to be of too low rank to have any information. The Dark Lord had heard about a group of wizards and witches who were heading towards Azkaban, and had sent an army of Death Eaters, with Dementors, to frighten them. Their leader, Jacob Krane, had hoped to catch the Order members before they reached Helga's Hollow, but had failed.  
  
'I probably gave him a better death than his master would have done', Sirius muttered thoughtfully, when he first heard this.  
  
The captives did not know that there was no spell to bring the dead back to life, and were absolutely petrified of Sirius and his comrades, for fear they would sacrifice one of them to do the spell again. It suited Sirius to hold this unspoken threat over their heads-it made them so much more willing to talk. It amused him that Voldemort's men betrayed their master so easily.  
  
Snape had avoided them carefully, in case one of them might realise he was using Polyjuice Potion, or recognise his voice. So far, so good.  
  
Sirius had tried to find out if the Death Eaters knew a way down from the cliff, but to no avail. Now, he heard the captives whispering to one another in an agitated manner, trying to figure out a way to escape, and this gave him an idea.  
  
'The spirits could help us get down from this cliff', he said, loud enough for the Death Eaters to hear, 'we could call on them right now, if we sacrifice.'  
  
'No!' Squealed Marcus Flint, 'no, don't kill us, please! We'll help you! We'll show you how to get down!'  
  
'Ah', Sirius said, grinning wickedly, 'so you do know a way down!'  
  
'Yes', Marcus replied breathlessly, ignoring the angry looks that his superiors were shooting him, 'yes, I know the way down, it's a secret, you haev to cast a spell...'  
  
'Unbind him', Sirius told Remus, who obeyed immediately. Marcus stumbled forwards, rubbing his wrists, his eyes darting from one side to another, looking for a means of escape.  
  
'Lead us to the right place', Sirius commanded. He and Bill frogmarched Marcus onwards, until the young Death Eater told them to stop.  
  
'Any tricks', Sirius warned, 'and we will sacrifice you first.'  
  
Marcus let out another squeal, and began to blurt out the details of the spell.  
  
'Y-you wave your wand like this', he pretended to be holding a wand, and pointed it firmly at the ground beneath his feet, 'th-then you say V-VIA SEMITA really loudly, and...and it'll open...'  
  
At a nod from Sirius, Bill pulled out his wand, and pointed it at the rocky ground. 'VIA SEMITA!' He shouted. At once, a crack opened in the ground, and widened so rapidly that Bill could not move away quickly enough, and he plunged downwards, into the pitch black hole.  
  
'BILL!' Sirius roared, throwing himself flat on the ground, and trying desperately to see down into the hole. There was no answer-nor did he hear Bill hit the ground. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Marcus begin to edge away. As quick as a flash, he was on his feet, and he threw Marcus to the ground, not caring how much he hurt him. 'If he's dead', he snarled, almost throttling the terrified Marcus, 'if he has broken one bone in his body, I swear I'll-'  
  
'What happened?' Remus shouted. The others had been making their way at a more leisurely pace towards the place where Marcus had led them.  
  
'This', Sirius growled, kicking Marcus in the ribs, 'this piece of scum forgot to tell Bill that you need to move out of the way after you cast the spell.'  
  
Marcus groaned. Everyone ignored him. Sirius, Remus and Eva hurried forwards to the black hole, and all began to shout Bill's name. There was no answer.  
  
'Gimme some light', Sirius shouted, cursing the fact that he had no wand anymore.  
  
'Lumos', said Remus and Eva together. The light from their wands, however, only penetrated the darkness within a few inches of them.  
  
'Give me your wands', Sirius said suddenly, 'I'm going down.'  
  
'You can't!' Eva protested, 'you'll fall like he did!'  
  
'Hey Flint!' Sirius shouted roughly, 'I'm guessing there are footholds down to the bottom of the cliff?'  
  
'Yes', Marcus gasped, clutching his bruised ribs, 'on the far side of the hole-just don't kill me!'  
  
'There are worse things than death, Flint', Oliver said grimly, coming forwards, while Tonks and Snape held the other prisoners.  
  
Sirius grabbed the wands from his friends, and hurried to other side of the crack. He gently lowered himself down, feeling around with his feet for a place to stand. He found a small ledge for his right foot, then a tiny crevice for his left, a bit further down. 'Here we go-Remus, my vault is number 568, I'm leaving half my gold to Harry, and half to the Order-plus you and Eva can take some to buy yourselves new wands', he declared grimly, 'just in case the worst should happen.' Before Remus could answer him, he descended into the darkness.  
  
'Sirius, this is madness! Let us throw you some rope!' Remus called down to him, 'to make sure you're safe.'  
  
'No point', Sirius called back, 'you know magic doesn't work so well out in the wastelands-I'd hate for a rope to give way if it was holding me and Bill. You'll all be coming down this way if it's safe-apart from Flint-we can chuck him down, the way Bill fell.'  
  
Clutching the wands in his left hand, he proceeded slowly downwards. After about fifteen minutes, he thought he heard a noise below him.  
  
'Bill?' He called cautiously, 'is that you?'  
  
There was a groan, and the sound of more movement. 'Sirius?' Murmured Bill's voice, some twenty feet below Sirius' feet, 'where aaaaaaaaaaaaaah!'  
  
'BILL!' Sirius roared, almost letting go of the cliff in his anxiety, 'answer me, Bill!'  
  
'Oh my God', Bill gasped, from even lower down this time, 'I was obviously on a ledge-I moved, and fell off-only just managed to grab onto something!'  
  
'Don't move an inch Bill', Sirius ordered, then shouted up to his comrades, 'I FOUND HIM!'  
  
'What happened?' Bill whispered, sounding as though he was in pain.  
  
'Flint forgot to tell you to move-the ground opened up, and you fell. Are you injured?' Sirius asked shortly, edging past a lump of protruding rock.  
  
'My left leg hurts like hell', Bill gasped, 'I think it's broken, so I can't climb down. And there's blood all over my face-I can taste it in my mouth. I must've landed on my face. And ow!'  
  
'What?' Sirius asked anxiously.  
  
'My bloody earring must've snagged on something', Bill cursed, 'I can feel blood from my ear dripping onto my robes.'  
  
'You sound a right mess', Sirius remarked, finding the ledge where Bill had landed. It was wide enough to sit down on, so Sirius hunkered down, and held the two wands aloft. About five feet below him, he could just make out the top of Bill's head.  
  
'Look up, Weasley!' He whispered. Bill glanced up-he was right, his face was a mess. His nose was crooked, and something sharp had obviously cut into his cheek. 'It's not pretty, is it?' Bill joked feebly. Sirius could see that his knuckles were white from trying to hold on to a narrow ledge of rock, which had clearly saved him from plunging to his death.  
  
'I reckon you'll have a nice jagged scar down the right hand side of your face', Sirius said lightheartedly, lying down on his stomach, and sliding forwards, until he could go no further without falling. He would not be able to reach Bill. He stood up again, 'but then, the ladies always do like a man with an heroic story.'  
  
He stood and thought for a moment, then came up with an idea. 'Right-o, Bill', he said briskly, 'I'm going to climb down so I'm level with you, and you're going to climb on my back.'  
  
'I'm almost a foot taller than you, and a fair bit bigger', Bill said faintly, trying despearately to maintain consciousness, 'there's no way it'll work.'  
  
'I promised your father I'd bring you back safe', Sirius replied, 'and I'm going to do just that. So shut up...and do...what I say...'As he spoke, he was swinging down to where Bill was hanging on for dear life. 'Okay then', he said, holding up the wands so Bill could see him, 'hop on.'  
  
Bill did not exactly hop, but he very carefully and quickly let go of the cliff with one hand, and placed it firmly on Sirius' shoulder. Sirius moved closer to facilitate him, and he was able to crawl across, and onto Sirius' back.  
  
'Is everything okay down there?' Remus shouted worriedly.  
  
'We're fine', Sirius called back, 'start coming down whenever you want.'  
  
Slowly and painfully, they moved down the cliff. Thirteen years in Azkaban followed by one of near starvation, and another of sitting around the house all day, had done nothing for Sirius' fitness. Bill felt as though he weighed a tonne, and every movement brought fresh beads of perspiration to Sirius forehead. How much further down could they possibly have to climb.  
  
'Sirius, I'm killing you', Bill protested, 'just let go of me, it can't be that far to the ground. It's not possible to give a grown man a piggy back down a cliff!'  
  
'Nobody thought it was possible to escape from Azkaban', Sirius grunted, 'but I managed it. Don't you talk about the impossible to me, William Weasley!'  
  
As he spoke, his right food touched solid ground, and with a gasp, he squatted down and allowed Bill to roll off his back. They were half-way through the cliff-the crack had only split a part of the cliff in two-and so would have to walk through a dark, narrow tunnel (built by God knows who)to get out into the half-light of the wastelands, but Sirius did not care. He had done it. He had saved Bill.  
  
Remus was the first to land next to them. He quickly unpacked two torches, and lit them with his wand, to cast light on the injured Bill. 'He'll live', Remus announced, after much examination of the patient, 'broken left leg, a couple of squashed toes, broken nose, torn ear-your mother warned you not to wear those earrings!-a deep gash in his cheek, bruised ribs...I'm guessing he hit off a few obstacles before he landed on that ledge.'  
  
'Yeah, there were some bits that stuck out', Sirius agreed.  
  
'Will you two do me a favour?' Bill moaned, 'will you get Oliver to kill the Flint kid for me?'  
  
Remus laughed. 'Same old Bill', he remarked.  
  
**********************  
  
The entire party were soon at the bottom of the cliff, and after making a stretcher for Bill, they hurried through the tunnel, out into the daylight again. Here, Remus made a splint for Bill's leg, and created two crutches out of the air. Also at this point, Oliver Wood settled some old scores will Marcus Flint, then left him unconscious in a heap at the foot of a cliff, having fallen victim to one too many Stunners and Hexes from Oliver's wand.  
  
'Now all that lies between us and Azkaban is the wastelands, and the sea', Sirius said, 'I don't think we need these prisoners anymore. Sna-I mean, Charlie! You know what to do.'  
  
Soon, all ten Death Eaters lay unarmed and unmasked at the foot of the cliff, after Snape had force-fed them all (including the unconscious Marcus, just to be sure) an incredibly strong, irriversible Sleeping Draught, which would take days to wear off. They would have no chance to return to Azkaban, and give any information to their master about their captors, without crossing paths with Sirius again-something which the powerless wizard was sure they would not relish.  
  
'On we go then', he said softly, 'to Azkaban.'  
  
"The Road goes ever on and on  
  
Down from the door where it began  
  
Now far ahead the road has gone  
  
And I must follow, if I can."  
  
Taken from the Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, by JRR Tolkien.  
  
(If you're gonna quote, you may as well quote a master!) 


	5. Now It's Personal

Hi! I want to say sorry, first, for the length of time it has taken me to write another chapter for this story, and my others stories on Fanfiction.net-I had exams to study for, then there was Christmas, and I had to get a new modem for my PC, so it was only a day or two ago that I finally got back online after a month or so of absence! Thank you to all my reviewers, your opinions are really important to me.I want to say a special thank you to prongs-666 and PAdmez, and the anonymous reviewer who reviewed my stuff in the past few days, and have encouraged me to continue!  
  
So, here's Chapter 5! Enjoy!  
  
***********  
  
The journey across the wastelands would take two weeks, according to Sirius' estimation. The Order members found great difficulty in trying to find a safe path through the wastelands. The place also brought back some powerful memories to Sirius; the last time he had travelled across these lands, he had been carried, somehow, by a host of Dementors, and anything he could remember about that journey struck terror into his heart. As leader of his little party, he was forced to cast aside his fears and senses of foreboding, and act as cheerily as possible. On the evening of their second day trudging across the wastelands, Remus sat down beside his old friend and nudged him.  
  
'Sirius', he said quietly, 'you needn't pretend this is easy for you.'  
  
'Who's pretending?' Sirius said lightly, not looking at Remus.  
  
Remus sighed. 'You'd make life a lot easier for yourself if you admitted you're terrified.'  
  
Sirius shot up to his feet indignantly. 'I am NOT terrified', he argued hotly.  
  
Remus shook his head, and smiled slightly. 'I didn't expect you to admit it', he remarked, 'but just remember-we won't think any the less of you if you feel horror at having to return to Azkaban.'  
  
Sirius gave a derisive snort, but as he strode past Remus, he patted his friend on the back, showing that there were no hard feelings.  
  
'I'll lead you to Azkaban', he murmured, 'because I have to.'  
  
Their progress was slow-Bill hobbled along as fast as he could on his crutches, but was suffering from a mild concussion since his fall. He vomited on several occasions, and was running a small fever. Snape was having problems due to prolonged use of Polyjuice Potion-his body was objecting to having to look and behave as Charlie Weasley's would have done. Remus was tired, and constantly watchful, searching the skies for the moon. 'I have lost track of the days, and I won't know when it's a full moon, because here, it is always black-dark.'  
  
'It is twenty-two days since you were last a werewolf', Snape informed him, grimacing, 'I would advise you to take the Wolfsbane early tomorrow.'  
  
'Good', Remus heaved a sigh of relief, 'at least then I can travel as fast as the rest of you, on four legs instead of two.'  
  
'Mmm.' Snape made a sneering sort of sound, which gave Sirius a sudden urge to throttle him on the spot. He was about to give Snape another verbal dressing-down in front of the whole Company, when a shiver passed through the whole land, and a dark shadow descended on his heart. Tonks let out a cry of despair, and with a groan, Bill collapsed on the ground, unconcsious.  
  
'Get out of the way!' Sirius cried, 'run, and don't stop 'til you begin to feel warm again! Oliver, help me with Bill!'  
  
'What's happening?' Oliver asked, terrified, as he supported Bill on one side, while Sirius grabbed the other side, and began to run as fast as he could.  
  
'Dementors', Sirius gasped, 'A lot of them, by the feel of it. Don't look back, whatever you do.' He could hear Peter Pettigrew's voice in his head, crying 'Lily and James, Sirius! How could you?' He could see a Dementor coming towards him, its hood lowered...He shook his head, and the image disintegrated, but only to be rapidly replaced by an Azkaban cell. His legs felt like lead, and his heart was sinking fast. He glanced at Oliver, and saw that the young man was staggering now, muttering to himself, with tears on his cheeks.  
  
Remus came running back towards them. 'There's a sort of ditch about a hundred yards away', he informed them, 'where you can't feel them anymore. Come on, as fast as you can!'  
  
This news roused the two men from the darkness which had threatened to defeat them, and they managed to get to the ditch quickly, the adrenalin triggered by their fear giving them extra strength and speed. They collapsed into the ditch to which Remus led them, and dropped Bill, who was still out cold.  
  
'What was that?' Tonks asked, an expression of horror on her face.  
  
Sirius did not answer, but went to the lip of the ditch, and peered over it; he shivered, as not a quarter of a mile away, he saw a group of at least sixty Dementors gliding in the direction of Azkaban. Oliver joined him, and spotted something with his keen eyes that Sirius had not been able to make out.  
  
'They've got some prisoners with them', he whispered, sounding scared.  
  
'Snape!' Sirius hissed, looking over his shoulder, 'have you got that spyglass handy?'  
  
Snape reached into his robes, and pulled out the requested instrument. His fingers trembling, he pulled it to its full length, and placed it to his eye. After about five seconds, he let loose a string of curses under his breath, before allowing the spyglass to slip from his fingers. Remus grabbed it, and peered through it as Sirius had done.  
  
'No', he breathed, 'it cannot be so.'  
  
'What is it?' Eva asked sharply, although not entirely sure she wanted the answer.  
  
'Those Dementors', Sirius replied huskily, 'they've got four Order members with them.'  
  
'Who?' Tonks' hands flew to her mouth, and her eyes widened with fear.  
  
'Mad-Eye Moody, Minerva MacGonagall, and Charlie and Arthur Weasley.' Remus replied grimly, watching through the spyglass until the Dementors had passed out of sight.  
  
There was a stunned silence in the ditch, as everyone tried to make sense of what Remus had just told them. Then, naturally, their gazes turned to Bill, who was beginning to come round.  
  
'What happened?' He moaned, 'my head was just beginning to stop swimming, then I felt like someone whacked me with a brick!'  
  
'Dementors happened', Eva replied gently, kneeling down beside him, 'their power is much stronger the closer they are to their home in Azkaban, and you were already weakened.'  
  
'I feel like a right prat', he murmured, turning red, and struggling to his feet. He hopped about on one leg, brushing down his robes, then noticed the immense silence around him, and looked up, astonished.  
  
'Who died?' He asked, looking around.  
  
Sirius felt it his duty to break the news to Bill, and so he walked over to the other wizard, and placed a hand on his shoulder. 'That group of Dementors', he said quietly, 'they had some prisoners with them.'  
  
'Poor souls', Bill said grimly, shaking his head.  
  
'They were Mad-Eye, Minerva, Charlie and your father', Sirius interrupted.  
  
Bill froze, and turned a ghastly shade of white. 'D-dad?' He stammered, 'and Charlie too? Both of them? Being taken to Azkaban? Wh-why? Wh-what for?'  
  
'That's an excellent question', Snape said thoughtfully.  
  
'Now's hardly the time for sarcasm, Severus', Tonks snapped, thinking that Snape was making little of the situation.  
  
'I don't mean it in that way', Snape replied coldly, 'what I was going to say was: Surely the Dark Lord would want to question such prisoners himself? Why would he give them to the Dementors, who would only destroy them, and give him no chance to interrogate them?'  
  
'Maybe they've already been questioned', said Eva in a small voice.  
  
'No', Sirius disagreed swiftly, glancing at the dumbstruck Bill, 'I can see what you're thinking, and if my experiences with Lord Voldemort count for anything, I know he would want to kill them himself, after questioning them, and make an example of their destruction. To him, destruction at the hands of a Dementor would not seem spectacular enough-it has happened dozens of times before. If I'm right, these four are his first really important captives-he'll want everyone to remember what happens to them, in the hopes that others will not oppose him in the same way.'  
  
'So what are you saying?' Tonks asked curiously, 'why are they being brought to Azkaban?'  
  
'I think I see what Sirius is getting at!' Remus cried suddenly, 'the Dementors aren't taking them AWAY from Voldemort, they're bringing them TO him!'  
  
There was a collective gasp. 'You believe the Dark Lord is dwelling in Azkaban?' Snape said tensely.  
  
'Why not?' Sirius reasoned, 'Azkaban is beyond the Ministry's control now, that's why we're on this mission in the first place. Azkaban is already a place of fear and dread, and a lot of his supporters are already imprisoned there-it's as good a place as any! After all, what person in their right mind would launch an attack on Azkaban?'  
  
'So what are we going to do?' Oliver asked hollowly, 'If Voldemort and all his Death Eaters are based in Azkaban, our chance of success is almost zero.'  
  
'I don't give a damn what the odds are', Bill spat furiously, finding his tongue at last, 'we're going to get to Azkaban and destroy the whole bloody fortress-and if anything's happened to Charlie or Dad...'  
  
He left his sentence unfinished, and kicking his crutches aside, he limped up the shallow side of the ditch, and turned to face the party below. 'We've run out of time', he cried angrily, 'don't you see, if Voldemort gives them Veritaserum, he'll know we're on the way! And the he'll....he'll kill them.'  
  
Sirius climbed out of the ditch, followed by the others. 'Come on', he said sadly, 'we will travel as fast as we can, for as long as we can. Voldemort just made this personal.'  
  
****************  
  
Remus and Snape put their heads together, and created a spell to strengthen the bone is Bill's leg, and enable him to walk properly, and at the same speed as the rest of them. For four days, they walked on through the dismal country, paying no heed to weariness, or blisters. Remus took his Wolfsbane potion religiously each of those days, and on the third transformed into the creature he loathed so much-a werewolf-but a tame one, thanks to the potion.When Sirius woke from a brief rest on the fifth night, he found the werewolf sitting next to him, gazing at him solemnly.  
  
'Lucky you', Sirius said, smiling ruefully, 'able to turn into an animal! Yes, I know, it's not your choice, but I wish....well, I just wish that I could be Padfoot again, for one night, and it could be just like old times.' He sighed heavily, and patted the werewolf on the head. 'But old Padfoot disappeared when I came back through the veil. I'm not going to have a much longer life than if I'd just stayed beyond the veil that time, am I?'  
  
Don't look at me like that!' He exclaimed, as Remus looked at him reproachfully, 'oh, I don't know. Nothing's straightforward anymore. I don't feel like...like ME, without magic. I feel weak, and useless. What am I going to do, when we get into Azkaban, eh? I can't stun anyone, or ward off Dementors. And Voldemort knows that now, since Wormtail attacked me down that alleyway. I still wonder how he did that. But enough of my ramblings. We'd better head off again soon. Wake up the others, will you Moony?'  
  
Remus nodded, and padded off to wake the rest fo the Company, while Sirius stood, stretched and surveyed the surrounding landscape. They had made good time in the past few days, and Sirius reckoned it would take another three days or so to reach the sea. He remembered vividly the day three years ago when he had swum across that violent sea, and collapsed on the shore of the wastelands, feeling emotions such as triumph and joy for the first time in thirteen years.  
  
Bill came and stood beside him. He had spoken little in the past few days, but kept his head bent and concentrated on walking as fast as his legs would allow him. Even Snape had stopped drinking the Polyjuice Potion with Charlie's DNA in it, as he realised this would not be a sensitive move. He instead took on the appearance of Mundugus Fletcher, a man whom he abhorred above all except Sirius.  
  
'How much longer?' Bill asked quietly.  
  
'About six days', Sirius replied, 'three on land, three on sea.'  
  
'How will we cross the sea?' Bill questioned anxiously.  
  
'We'll swim if we have to', Sirius responded grimly, 'don't worry about that yet. Concentrate on crossing land first, before you even think about the sea. Are we all ready? Right then, on we go.'  
  
They travelled until the sun was high in the sky, then stopped for a five minute rest. Oliver untied his broomstick from the load he carried on his back, and laid it across his knees. It was a Nimbus Two Thousand and Two, the best broom so far in the Nimbus range, and Oliver's pride and joy, bought by his mother, as a present when he got a place on the Puddlemere United team. He stood up, and held the broom in front of him, then let it go. He let out a shout of surprise; he had expected it to drop like a stone, since magic did not work properly close to Azkaban, but instead, it hovered in the air where he had left it.  
  
Sirius and Eva, hearing Oliver's cry, turned around, and gasped at the broomstick. Immediately, the entire group began to remove their broomsticks from their packs and command them to hover-and every single broom worked.  
  
'How can that be?' Remus (who was, now that the sun had brought an end to the reign of the full moon, a human again)asked, puzzled, 'I thought there was no magic here?'  
  
'Voldemort probably changed all that', Sirius said, this fact dawning upon him suddenly, 'his followers might need to use magic here, and so he probably did something that only he knows how to do, to allow magic to work here! Well, for once, Voldemort has done us a favour! If only he knew, he's made our journey a lot easier!'  
  
The wizards and witches flew as low as possible, so as not to draw attention to themselves, and made amazing progress. Without having to pick their way carefully over rocky patches and muddy bogs, they cut hours off their journey. So encouraged was Sirius by their progress that he did not let them stop to rest, until twenty-four hours later, when they were all almost asleep on their brooms, a gloomy, grey mass of water could be made out in the distance, and Sirius ordered them to descend, and walk the final stretch, in case any Death Eaters were lurking by the shore.  
  
'Can we fly over the sea?' Bill asked eagerly.  
  
Sirius shook his head. 'I wouldn't risk it', he explained, 'the enemy could spot us and attack us too easily, and we would have nowhere safe to land. Plus, we need some extra days to plan what we will do when we actually get to Azkaban. We'll obviously be spotted before we get there, so there can be no element of surprise, which means our plan has to be absolutely flawless.'  
  
The others looked at him doubtfully, but said nothing. Sirius felt the sand beneath his feet, and his heart gave a leap as he realised their journey was coming to an end, whether good or bad.  
  
'What'll we do for a boat?' Remus whispered worriedly.  
  
'No idea', Sirius muttered, 'I'm sort of doing this as I go along. Any ideas?'  
  
And Remus burst out laughing. Sirius stared at him, wondering if the stress had finally got to him, but then he looked to the spot where Remus was pointing and his jaw dropped:  
  
A large raft, made of thick wooden logs, with a white sail and a red flag, was sitting on the shore. The red flag bore the emblem of Gryffindor house on it: a golden lion. Sirius ran forwards, and gazed up at the raft, which, it seemed, had been sent especially for them. He caught sight of a piece of cloth tied to the mast, which seemed to have some writing on it. He recognised the loopy script at once:  
  
I SET THIS RAFT AFLOAT ON THE SEA, IN THE HOPES THAT IT WILL REACH THOSE WHO CAN MAKE USE OF IT, WHEN THEY NEED IT MOST. D.  
  
'Dumbledore!' Remus chuckled, 'the old devil! He found a way to help us, even if he couldn't actually come with us, or help us with the journey directly. All he did was create a raft, and send it out to sea-probably from the other side of this ocean, beyond Azkaban!'  
  
'Probably put an innocent invisibility spell or two on it to stop it from falling into the wrong hands', Eva remarked with a smile.  
  
'THANK YOU DUMBLEDORE!' Bill cried, doing a small victory dance with Tonks on the spot, 'come on, let's go!'  
  
And so, the Order of the Phoenix set out on the last leg of their journey, and for once, they felt that luck was going with them.  
  
PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!! Hope you liked it! 


	6. A Rotten Day

'Yo ho!' Remus whispered, handing Sirius dry cracker, 'we're getting close to the end of our rations. A penny for your thoughts.'  
  
'Plans to destroy the Dementors are worth far more than a penny, I can assure you', Sirius said, frowning into the thick mist that surrounded their little raft.  
  
'Ah', Remus said, smiling slightly, 'got any decent plans yet?'  
  
'Not really', Sirius replied with a sigh, 'why aren't you asleep anyway?'  
  
'I'm not tired', Remus told him, 'surprising really, seeing as how I'm usually exhausted. But we're too close to danger for me to sleep in peace. Wolf's instincts and all that.'  
  
'What d'you think about this mist?' Sirius muttered anxiously.  
  
'Same as you', Remus answered, 'it's not natural. It makes the air feel heavy and it's far too thick. And it descended the very same second as we got into deep waters.'  
  
'Mmm.' Sirius had hoped that Remus would disagree with him, but it seemed that his suspicions had just been confirmed. Lord Voldemort, or at the very least the Dementors, knew that there were unwelcome guests approaching.  
  
'We need a plan', Sirius whispered, 'tell the others they can sleep later- we need to lay our plans now. We never know what might happen.'  
  
Remus nodded, and as soon as he moved a few inches away from Sirius, he was swallowed by the mist. Sirius heard him waking the others, and called out 'Eva! Where are you?'  
  
'Over here!' Came Eva's voice, only a few feet to his left. Sirius walked carefully across the raft, and reached out like a blind man.  
  
'Ow! Sirius, that was my eye!' Eva hissed.  
  
'Sorry', Sirius grinned to himself. 'Eva, can you do a clearing spell? I know I said the fog was a good thing, because it would hide us, but we need a little bit more vision than we have. Can you even clear the air around the raft?'  
  
'I'll try, but my magic was out when I tried to make light earlier', Eva said doubtfully. She muttered some words beneath her breath, and suddenly, as though someone had cut the fog away with a scissors, a small, circular area close to Sirius became clear.  
  
'You're a star, Eva', he whispered, taking her hand momentarily, and grinning at her again. She blushed, smiled, then looked away.  
  
'Right you lot', Sirius said, ' come as close to me as possible, so you're all out of the mist. Brilliant. We may as well sit down, this could take a while.'  
  
'Have you come up with any ideas, Sirius?' Tonks asked, yawning.  
  
'A couple. But the details are very sketchy', he replied, 'and they're not all that realistic, to be honest.'  
  
'Tell us about Azkaban, Sirius', Remus suggested helpfully, 'what's the island like, and how will we get into fortress?'  
  
Sirius made a face. 'That's the most difficult part of all. If we get into the fortress without them catching us, and manage to make them talk to us, then the rest will be a cinch.'  
  
'Oh, so no problems at all then', Snape butted in sarcastically.  
  
'There is a way though', Sirius continued, ignoring Snape's remark, 'actually, there are several ways, but none of them are pleasant, easy or foolproof. One; we can all turn into animals. That's really hard-and quite painful, or so I hear-for people who aren't Animagi. But we could try, I s'pose. Two; We can go underwater, and dig our way up through the foundations, into the fortress. Or three; we can let them capture us. That way, we'll definitely get in, and there would be a small chance of success.'  
  
Silence greeted Sirius' suggestions. 'You're not giving us a lot of choice', Bill said thoughtfully, 'but we're going to have to try one of those ways. Which has the best chance of success?'  
  
'I dunno, do I?' Sirius said, raising an eyebrow, 'I'd be willing to put money on it that we're the first people ever to try and break IN to Azkaban, wouldn't you?'  
  
'Couldn't we break in the way you broke out?' Oliver suggested.  
  
'How DID you break out?' Asked Eva and Tonks together.  
  
Sirius laughed. 'I transformed into a dog, and slipped past the Dementors.' He explained. 'I bet that's not half so galmorous as half the stories you've heard. But that's an interesting theory, Oliver. The only hitch is, we know we're not just dealing with Dementors any more-Voldemort and have his fan club are camped in Azkaban. Dementors mightn't be able to sense animals, but Death Eaters can see-and kill them.'  
  
'So basically, it's a question of which plan is the least suicidal', Snape stated blankly.  
  
'It doesn't really matter whether we survive or not, does it?' Sirius said suddenly, 'all that matters is that one of us survives long enough to smash the orb that controls the Dementors.'  
  
'Cheers, Sirius', Bill said heavily, 'I hadn't thought of it like that before.'  
  
'He's right though', Remus intervened, 'our lives are not the important thing here. If we can do it, and get out alive, so much the better. But what it comes down to is this; we told Dumbledore we would undertake this mission, in full knowledge of the danger we were putting ourselves in. Now, out here, on the middle of the ocean, that may seem like a bit of a bad choice, but the time to quit was when we left Grimmauld Place. There's no point in putting down every single idea, beacuse we've got to go with one of them!'  
  
'I know!' Tonks hissed suddenly, her eyes shining, 'I know! We have to split up! We can use all three of Sirius' plans, and that gives us better odds on actually succeeding!'  
  
Sirius and Remus exchanged a glance, and silently agreed.  
  
'I believe Tonks has settled the argument for us', Sirius announced, 'we just have to split up. None of you are Animagi, are you?'  
  
'I am', Eva responded quietly.  
  
'What?' Sirius said, amazed, 'you never said!'  
  
Eva shrugged. 'It's not a skill I use very often.'  
  
'What animal are you?' Bill asked interestedly.  
  
'A bluebird', she replied, smiling slightly.  
  
'Nice and small', Sirius mused, 'wouldn't be spotted easily. Will you try the animal trick, then?'  
  
'Yes', she said softly, 'I will.'  
  
'Great. Anyone have a particular desire to come up from underneath? With a Bubblehead Charm, it'd be easy.'  
  
'I also have some Gillyweed', Snape added stiffly, 'if there are two people who are prepared to dig.'  
  
'Dig? Nah, we needn't dig', Bill said, shaking his head, 'we just blast a hole in the foundations of the island, right the way up!'  
  
'There's a hole there already', Sirius said, in a subdued voice, 'it's close to the shore, and the Dementors throw the dead down it, and it always seemed to me to be a bottomless pit. It probably opens somwhere down there.'  
  
'So...whoever goes has to climb up through a load of old skeletons?' Tonks asked, wrinkling her nose.  
  
'Exactly', Sirius replied, imitating Tonks' face.  
  
'I'll do it', Oliver declared sombrely.  
  
'You'll...are you sure?' Sirius asked, surprised, 'why, Oliver?'  
  
'It'll probably be tough work, whether we've got to climb, or dig', Oliver replied, swallowing hard, 'I'm the youngest, and I'm probably the fittest here. So it makes sense, doesn't it?'  
  
The young man's bravery shamed the others into volunteering far more rapidly.  
  
'I'm already able to change shape a bit, so transforming into an animal won't be quite as hard for me', Tonks explained, 'I'll do the animal bit too.'  
  
'I'll go with Oliver', Bill volunteered determinedly, 'and I want to be the one who stuns whoever's guarding Dad and Charlie.'  
  
'We'll try and facilitate you', Sirius replied seriously. 'Okay, so that leaves....well me, Remus and Snivellus. So I s'pose we're the ones who are giving ourselves up.'  
  
'Can't we at least by invisible or something?' Remus asked, sounding nervous. But Sirius shook his head ruefully. 'Nope, Dementors dont need us to be visible to sense us, and I'm sure Voldemort has some intruder detectors in place. Invisibility will make little difference.'  
  
'So...we just...?'  
  
'Let 'em come and get us.' Sirius replied, smling slightly. 'Voldemort won't let Dementors or Death Eaters harm a hair on our heads 'til he hears what we want, and what we did with his men.'  
  
'I do not relish the thought of being force-fed Veritaserum, or being tortured into revealing our mission', Snape said stiffly, 'it is most important that my identity remain secret.'  
  
'Shut up about your secret identity, Snivellus', Sirius snapped, 'Dumbledore obviously didn't care about it-he wouldn't've sent you with us if he did. And I don't think your identity will make any difference-he'll probably have us all killed anyway!'  
  
'So who's going to try and get to the central chamber?' Tonks asked quietly.  
  
Sirius looked around at the others, and sighed softly. 'It has to be me, doesn't it?' He said, with a wry smile, 'I know where it is, roughly, and I'm the least powerful of everyone here. You'll need all the strength you have to overcome the Dementors and Death Eaters. Hopefully, they'll be distracted enough that my activity will go unnoticed.'  
  
'Snape and I will accompany you', Remus said, 'obviously. I can cover you with a Patronus, and Snape can use some of his potions.'  
  
'It'll be easier for one to escape than three', Sirius argued, 'if I fail, then someone else can try. That's better than all three of us being killed in one fell swoop.'  
  
'Dumbledore said we would all have a part to play', Remus replied calmly, 'and my Patronus is my real strength. while Snape's lies in his talent as a Potionsmaster. Oliver is the strongest and fastest, followed by Bill, so they can climb or dig easily, as well as create a diversion, while Eva and Tonks are mistresses of diguise. So, Sirius Black, you will not be going anywhere in Azkaban alone. If you're going to die, then I'm going to die defending you, because anyone who wants to kill you will have to come through me.'  
  
Sirius stared at Remus, not knowing what to say.  
  
'Touching as Lupin's little speech was', Snape sneered, 'we do have rather important plans to make.'  
  
'They can wait', Sirius was no longer in the mood to plan anything, 'get some more sleep. I'll try and work something out, and wake you in a few hours.'  
  
'You haven't slept in two days, Sirius', Eva remarked, 'you need rest more than any of us.'  
  
'I'm not tired', Sirius responded shortly, 'rest while you can. As far as I can recall, when Fudge came to visit the prison he mentioned something about the dangers of this sea. I didnt experience any trouble myself, but that's not to say Fudge was incorrect. If and when anything happens, I'll wake you all.'  
  
The members of the Order of the Phoenix lay down on the uncomfortable, cramped raft. Sirius stood, staring into the mist, wondering what lay ahead. He heard a noise behind him, and knew Remus too was awake.  
  
'The last adventure of the Marauders', he breathed with a sigh. He laid a hand on the hilt of his knife, and felt that it was warm.  
  
'And I have a feeling that old Prongs will have a deed or two to do, with this knife, before it's all over', he added softly.  
  
************  
  
Sirius' reverie was interrupted by the sudden realisation that the wood beneath his feet was becoming very warm. Tonks turned over in her sleep and murmured 'who turned the heating up?' Sirius dropped to his knees, and gingerly dipped his forefinger into the water, yanking it back violently as he felt a scalding pain.  
  
'Get up!' He shouted, 'the sea is boiling!'  
  
The others, who had all been sleeping quite lightly, leapt to their feet, looking around wildly.  
  
'Thank God Dumbledore made this raft so thick', Sirius commented, at the same moment realising that apart from the heavy mist, there was now very hot steam in the air.  
  
'It's like a bloody sauna', Bill gasped, going red in the face, 'we're going to be boiled alive, like lobsters!'  
  
'Take down the mast!' Eva cried suddenly, 'we can use the two pieces of wood as oars, until we get away from this patch!'  
  
'Well done, Eva! Remus, disconnect the mast.' Sirius ordered. With a flick of his wand, Remus plucked the mast from the raft, and broke it into two seperate pieces. He threw one to Oliver and one to Bill, who both immediately started rowing. There was nothing for the others to do but huddle together in the middle, and wait anxiously for the heat to recede.  
  
'Oh my!' Tonks gasped, 'the raft! It's coming apart!'  
  
Sure enough, Sirius felt the wood beneath his feet begin to crack.  
  
'This isn't just boiling water', Remus said, swallowing hard, 'this is something foul-it's rotting the wood!'  
  
'Row, Bill! Go on, Oliver!' Sirius shouted. 'All of you, just hold tight, we'll get through this.'  
  
'Argh!' Bill let out a cry, as his oar broke in two.  
  
'Now would be a good time for the mist to lift, so we could at least see what we were doing' Sirius muttered, grabbing hold of Snape to stop himself from falling.  
  
'It's not as hot', Eva said breathlessly, 'but the raft is still falling to pieces.'  
  
'This water is still dangerous', Oliver gasped, 'my oar's nearly broken.'  
  
Just as he spoke, there was a tremendous crack, and the entire raft broke in two.  
  
Sirius thought he was dead this time. If the water rotted wood within minutes, what would it do to a person? But before he could hit the water, a tremendous wind picked him up and carried him some distance away like a ragdoll. It also cleared the mist, and Sirius could suddenly see that he was floundering in the water, with the rest of his party. In the distance could be seen the island upon which stood the fortress of Azkaban.  
  
'Voldemort', he spluttered, struggling towards Remus, 'he's playing with us. Showing us he can save us, then let us drown!'  
  
'Probably', Remus said, his teeth chattering, as he splashed around, trying to stay afloat, 'I did not like the feel of that wind one bit.'  
  
'Look on the bright side!' Eva said, 'at least we're not dead!'  
  
'My potions!' Snape gasped, 'they are all lost!'  
  
'What? No! We need them!' Sirius cried.  
  
'What we need is to hold onto each other', Tonks said firmly, 'where's Bill?'  
  
'Here!' Bill was swimming towards them, from some distance away, 'that was fun! Almost like surfing.'  
  
'Glad you enjoyed it', Sirius said sarcastically, 'but now, there's only one thing for it. We have to swim the rest of the way. We picked a bad spot of the sea to sail across, it seems.'  
  
The seven witches and wizards held onto each other's robes, and turned towards the black lump in the distance.  
  
'This is when it really starts. Are you ready?' Sirius asked, pushing his sopping wet hair out of his eyes.  
  
The comrades looked at one another, and nodded. Azkaban was in sight. ***********  
  
I only plan on doing two more chapters, one on the events in Azkaban, and an epilogue, which will be really important. I want to thank all my reviewers once more! 


	7. The Final Battle

'Well, Remus. Severus. This is it.'  
  
Sirius, Remus and Snape were wading towards the shore, their robes sopping wet, their hearts pounding. Tonks(now a gadfly) and Eva (a bluebird) were hovering some distance out from the shore, while Oliver and Bill were currently swimming to the bottom of the sea, using the Bubblehead Charm.  
  
'We are walking straight to our deaths', Snape said tonelessly, gazing at the shadowy outline of Azkaban Fortress through the mist.  
  
'For God's sake, stop looking at it!' Sirius snapped, 'that place causes despair as soon as you lay eyes on it, stop making this harder than it has to be. Try and think of-'  
  
'Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens?' Snape replied sourly, wrenching his gaze away from the prison, 'you forget, Black, that I am a double agent. With no Polyjuice Potion left, I will be recognised at once, and punished accordingly.'  
  
Just as he spoke, there was a horrible scream that sent a shiver down Sirius' spine. 'Voldemort's torturing someone', he said tightly.  
  
'Now who's despairing?' Snape sneered.  
  
'Just shut up, the two of you!' Remus hissed, 'you're both on the same side, but you wouldn't think it to listen to you! Can't you just leave each other alone for the rest of this mission?'  
  
'Sorry', muttered the two chastened wizards.  
  
They reached dry land.  
  
'It'll only be a few minutes', Sirius murmured, 'just a few short minutes. Then they'll come.'  
  
Sirius' words proved true. Within a few minutes of setting foot on dry land, some shadowy figures began to emerge from the mist. Sirius guessed they were Death Eaters, for he did not feel the dread fear of the Dementors weighing down on him.  
  
'We haven't come for a fight!' He shouted, as the figures came closer, inch by inch, 'we've come to negotiate! We're not holding our wands, please, just take us into Azkaban, and let us tell you why we are here!'  
  
'Padfoot.'  
  
Sirius' gaze switched to the direction from which the voice had come- straight in front of him. The smallest of the dozen or so hooded figures approaching sped up, and came to a halt only a few feet from Sirius, where he could be seen more clearly. He laughed unpleasantly, and threw off his hood.  
  
'Pettigrew.' Sirius spat the word out, with contempt. 'We meet again.' Under his grip, James' knife grew very hot.  
  
The small, balding man grinned evilly, and looked at Sirius' comrades. The sight of Snape seemed to shake him, but he recovered quickly.  
  
'So, Severus', he said, sneering, 'The Dark Lord will have a special treat for you. Or Snivellus, wasn't that what we used to call him, Padfoot? Moony?'  
  
'Don't you dare, Pettigrew', Sirius growled.  
  
Peter Pettigrew feigned a saintly expression. 'What?' He asked innocently, 'Im not doing anything!'  
  
'You're trying to turn us against each other', Remus answered, shooting Peter a look that would make a fully grown hippogriff quail, 'just like you used to at school. Licking up to James, trying to get between him and Sirius. Convincing Sirius to make you Secret Keeper. A rat suits you, Peter. I've always thought you were just like those filthy, slippery little- '  
  
'Silence!' Pettigrew's eyes were popping, 'be quiet, werewolf! Or we'll wait 'til the next full moon, then lock you up with your two friends and let you eat them! Now, enough of this playgound nonsense. Where are the others?'  
  
'Others?' Sirius said blankly, 'what others?'  
  
Peter growled. 'We have spies', he replied, 'spies who inform us that seven of you, and not just three, were travelling here.'  
  
'They are dead', Sirius responded, bowing his head, 'they died when our raft fell to pieces.'  
  
'Check if we're lying', Snape added, with a smirk, 'oh, that's right, I forgot you can't. You were never good enough to learn Legillimency.'  
  
Suddenly, Peter's hand shot out, and he grabbed Snape by the throat. His grip was strong, and Snape's eyes were bulging.  
  
'Leave him, Peter! You wouldn't want to deprive Voldemort of a little fun with the double-crosser, now would you?' Sirius shouted.  
  
Peter glared at Snape, then released him. The taller wizard fell to his knees, clutching his throat and coughing. Peter walked away from the trio.  
  
'Take them to the fortress', he ordered the closest Death Eater, 'bind their hands. We'll let the Dark Lord decide what is to be done with them.'  
  
The Death Eaters waved their wands, and cords sprang from them, binding the three wizards tightly. As they were led towards Azkaban, Sirius glanced over his shoulder, and thought that he could make out the shape of a little bird, fluttering closer to the shore.  
  
****************  
  
'Our master will want to speak with you at once', growled the Death Eater who was guarding Sirius, 'he is intrigued by your arrival.'  
  
Sirius did not answer. A horrible terror had seized his heart the moment he passed the gate of Azkaban, and he was having great difficulty with shaking it off. A wave of nausea swept over him. The Dementors must be at the far end of the jail. Gathered for what purpose?  
  
The great iron doors swung open silently, and the three wizards were pushed roughly inside. It was dark, damp and extremely unpleasant. Sirius closed his eyes, as memories of his years within these walls filled his head. Only now, he had no way to escape the torment of the Dementors...he had no magic...  
  
As he was escorted down through a row of empty cells (all the Death Eaters had obviously been freed), Sirius realised what Voldemort had decided to do with them until he was ready to speak to them. They were to be thrown into Sirius' old cell.  
  
His theory was correct. The Death Eaters removed Remus' and Snape's wands, and shoved them into the cell. As the door slammed after them, Remus turned to Sirius in the horrible, cold, half-light and said 'this was your cell, wasn't it?'  
  
Sirius nodded silently. How well he remembered staring through the tiny grid in the door, watching Cornelius Fudge march up and down, inspecting his prisoners. How well he remembered the sense of envy every time a prisoner was carried from his cell, hacing finally succombed to the pain of Azkaban. Sirius had often wished to be one of these corpses. Turning around, he took in the hard, stone floor; the pathetic mattress of straw; the flea-bitten blanket. He had returned to Hell.  
  
Sirius slid to the floor, and put his head in his hands. Although there were no Dementors around anymore, he could almost hear their rattling breath, and feel their clammy hands on his shoulders.  
  
'I wonder how Bill and Oliver are doing', Remus murmured.  
  
'They didn't take your knife', Snape said suddenly, staring at Sirius.  
  
'What?' Sirius mumbled, not looking up. He had been feeling so ghastly that he wouldn't have noticed if they had stripped him naked.  
  
'You've still got your knife, Sirius!' Remus whispered, 'James' knife!'  
  
Sirius, with an effort, looked down, and saw the knife still hanging from his belt. His jaw dropped. 'Why didn't they take it?' He wondered aloud.  
  
'I doubt that they saw it', Remus remarked, 'you know it's a magical knife. I'm sure it knows how to hide itself.'  
  
Somehow, this thought comforted the desolate Sirius, who struggled to his feet again, and walked over to the door. The corridor was deserted.  
  
'We demand to see Lord Voldemort!' He roared. His voice echoed through the prison, and in the heart of the fortress, the Dark Lord heard his enemy's call. His face twisted into a sneer, and he flicked his wand casually, leaving a trail of smoke in the air.  
  
To Snape, Sirius and Remus, it seemed as though a ferocious wind blew the door open, picked them up, and carried them through the halls of the mighty fortress. Before Sirius knew where they were, he saw another set of huge iron doors, with snakes engraved upon them, looming ahead.  
  
'He's in there!' He shouted to his comrades.  
  
The doors blew inwards, and Sirius, Remus and Snape landed on the floor (rather painfully) in the centre of the room.  
  
'So. The wizard without magic, the werewolf and the traitor have come to witness the greatness of Lord Voldemort.'  
  
All three knew the voice well, and dreaded looking upon the face of the Dark Lord. Sirius was the first to stand, and meet his eye. He realised that the room was empty, apart from Voldemort, who sat casually on a sort of throne.  
  
'We did not come to witness anything', Sirius said loudly, 'nor to trade insults, nor to fight.'  
  
'Why did you come then, Sirius Black?'  
  
Sirius felt a horrible pain wrack his body as he returned Voldemort's glare. The red eyes! How had Harry withstood this torture?  
  
'If you are so powerful', Sirius replied, with much bravado, 'then you already know why we are here.'  
  
This remark stung the dark wizard, and Sirius immediately felt him trying to search his mind. Sirius, although without magic, was still able to shut Voldemort out before he could gain any information (occlumency is not magic involving a wand, but mere strength of mind). So, Voldemort's spies had not been quite so efficient after all.  
  
'I think you need taking down a peg or two, Black!' Voldemort said coldly, 'Crucio.'  
  
The pain was so intense that Sirius almost passed out. He vaguely knew that Remus and Snape were suffering the same torture. He placed his hand on the hilt of his knife, as he fell to his knees.  
  
Suddenly, the pain was gone. He leapt to his feet again, and saw by the look on Voldemort's face that the dark wizard had not lifted the spell.  
  
The knife...  
  
As Sirius' hand went to the knife, Voldemort's eyes followed him. 'Accio knife!' Shrieked the dark wizard.  
  
The knife stayed where it was.  
  
Remus and Snape struggled to their feet, and moved closer to Sirius.  
  
Voldemort stood up, and walked forward. He decided to change his tactics. He advanced on Snape.  
  
'Severus', he said softly, shaking his head, 'I did not realise you were so dim witted. You know I own you.' He grabbed Snape's arm with his white, bony hand, and pressed hard. Snape let out an agonised cry, and his eyes rolled up in his head. There was nothing Remus or Sirius could do.  
  
Voldemort threw Snape aside like a rag doll. He turned towards Remus, an evil smile on his face. 'I am bored, werewolf.' He said, 'how about giving us a little show?'  
  
Remus spat into Voldemort's snake-like face.  
  
Voldemort let out a roar of rage, and shouted 'Imperio!'  
  
Sirius stood, transfixed with horror, as Voldemort made Remus howl, and behave like a wolf.  
  
'Now', Voldemort said, so Sirius could hear him, 'attack Sirius. Attack Sirius Black.'  
  
As Remus charged at him, Sirius saw the fury and desperation in his old friend's face.  
  
Sirius didn't run. He did not lay a finger on Remus, but braced himself. Remus knocked him off his feet, and was about to sink his fist in Sirius' face, when he let out a wild moan, and rolled quickly out of the way.  
  
'You are fools', Voldemort said, laughing thinly, 'but strong fools, I grant you. I will only speak with one of you-I choose you, Black. You and I have quite a history, shall we say-you having created the impression that you were my greatest follower. Cords!'  
  
Strong cords made from wire uncoiled from his wand, and bound the hands and feet of Remus and Snape. A piece of wire also wrapped itself tightly around their jaws, cutting into the skin, making them bleed. And still Sirius did nothing. He needed more time...  
  
'Does being here remind you of your prison days?' Voldemort asked cruelly, 'maybe we should make it more authentic...'  
  
Suddenly, shackles closed themselves around Sirius' feet and hands. The chains on the shackles at his feet were so short that he could not move an inch.  
  
'Speak!' Voldemort commanded, 'unless you'd like to be bound like your two fine friends here!'  
  
And so Sirius began to speak.  
  
'My comrades and I have travelled for some time, to get here', he told Voldemort, 'on the orders of Albus Dumbledore, we were to come here, and negotiate for the destruction of the Dementors, to make the war fair. We didn't realise you would be here yourself.'  
  
'You want me to destroy the Dementors?' Voldemort laughed again, 'Sirius, did your time beyond the veil teach you nothing? Do you not understand?'  
  
Sirius had no idea what the dark wizard meant. But since he was playing for time, he asked 'how did you know I came back from beyond the veil?'  
  
Voldemort smirked. 'Do you know, I feared that you would return as one with powers that would rival my own. But instead, you came back a weakling. But I am not a man to take risks, Sirius Black. I wanted to test you. And so I sent some of my followers to attack you. And lo and behold, they put you in hospital!'  
  
Sirius noticed that Voldemort had avoided his question, so he posed it again. 'Who told you I had returned?'  
  
'Foolish, naive, unselfish Sirius', Voldemort replied, 'sacrificing your magic for Harry Potter. Do you not know that he will be destroyed soon? I thought that you, being an intelligent man, would have realised the potential! But no matter...'  
  
What WAS he talking about? Sirius was quickly forming a desperate plan. Why had Tonks and Eva not arrived yet?  
  
'Where are the members of the Order? The ones you captured and had brought here a few days ago?'  
  
'I will tell you when you tell me where the rest of your party is.' Voldemort responded.  
  
'Never. I will not leave here until I know what happened to your captives.'  
  
'You will not LEAVE at all', Voldemort said, sounding amused.  
  
'If you set them free', Sirius said, sudden inspiration hitting him, 'I'll give myself up.'  
  
'You do not seem to understand, Master Black, that you are my prisoner, and you cannot make any bargains.' Voldemort sat back down again, 'although, I do have an offer for you.'  
  
Inspite of himself, Sirius was curious. 'What is it?'  
  
Voldemort waved his wand, and Sirius gasped, as an image of Harry, James and Lily Potter being reunited appeared in front of him. The image changed, and Sirius saw his own brother walking down Diagon Alley. It changed again, and Sirius was staring at himself, dressed in black, hooded robes, casting spells as admiring witches and wizards looked on in amazement at the wonders he could perform. The images dissolved, and Sirius saw that Voldemort was watching him closely.  
  
'All these things I will give you', the dark wizard said slowly, 'I will restore Harry's parents to him. I will give your brother life and freedom from my service. And I will give you your magic.'  
  
'On what condition?' Sirius asked, mesmerised.  
  
'On the condition that you work for me', Voldemort replied, 'it wouldn't be so bad. You would be my right hand man-just like everyone thought you were. Peter is useless and shall be disposed of soon, and I need a replacement. All I ask is that you help me gain power. I will do all that I have said, if you agree.'  
  
Sirius thought of Harry's delight at seeing his parents again. He thought of his brother living once more-although they had never been friends, he had felt slightly protective of his little brother, who always followed everything his mother told him to do. Perhaps, if he was given a second chance, he would be a better person...  
  
But a time would come when Voldemort would order Sirius to kill the Potters. And what then?  
  
'Here', Voldemort said softly, 'let me show you more.'  
  
A cloud of white light encircled Sirius, and all around him were images of dead friends returned to life, and happy. And he was there too, surrounded by glory, victorious in battle, feared and renowned. Then, he felt a burning pain at his waist, and realised that the knife was glowing white. It brought him to his senses, and he knew that Voldemort was trying to ensnare him, and trick him into saying yes. He shook his head to clear it, and saw, through the screens, the Dark Lord muttering a spell and pointing his wand at Sirius. A jet of light was heading towards him. Without thinking (for he had no time), Sirius pulled out his knife, and held it up as a shield, to deflect the spell.  
  
The beam broke into ten strands as it bounced off the knife-but one beam went through it. It hit Sirius square in the chest. One also hit Voldemort.  
  
Time stood still, and suddenly, everything was clear to Sirius. He saw right into Voldemort's mind, and he felt himself growing stronger.  
  
Voldemort had been beyond the veil. He had gone there on purpose, having heard rumours of a great power that ruled there. He managed to escape, having robbed the keeper of the archway of some of his power-the body of one who had fallen through the veil (becasue Voldemort pushed him). But the keeper had his way, and instead of stealing Voldemort's body, he stole his humanity, so that the dark wizard was trasnformed hideously, and cursed with immortality.  
  
The spell shattered, and Sirius was flung to the ground. In his hand, he no longer held a long knife, but a wand of some sort of silvery-white wood. His hand trembling, he pointed the wand at Remus. 'Libertus!' He whispered.  
  
The cords fell from Remus' hands, feet and mouth.  
  
And then Sirius turend to face Voldemort, who was still shaken by the effect of the spell.  
  
'Intruders! Master! Intruders!' Peter Pettigrew came dashing into the room, but stopped dead, as he saw his master seemed to have shrunk and withered.  
  
Tonks and Eva entered only seconds later, and Voldemort, shaking terribly, beckoned Peter towards him. Peter, like the mindless slave that he was, hurried forwards, and while Sirius was releasing Snape, Voldemort pressed the Dark Mark on Peter's arm, calling all the Death Eaters to him. Immediately, Death Eaters began to apparate from all around, whipping their wands out of their robes, preparing to duel. Bill and Oliver came hurtling in seconds later, having blasted two Death Eaters out of their way already.  
  
'Run Sirius!' Eva ordered, stunning two Death Eaters in quick succession.  
  
Sirius was still dumbfounded, gazing in amazement at his new wand. He looked up, and realised that Voldemort was beginning to recover.  
  
'Stupefy!' He bellowed, with all the force he could muster, knocking Peter Pettigrew to the floor. With that, he turned on his heel and ran as fast as he could. Death Eaters got in his way, but without the aid of any magic, he shoved them violently out of his path, sprinting for the door.  
  
'Stop, Sirius.'  
  
To his horror, Sirius found himself slowing down, and turning around. Voldemort was pointing his wand straight at him, casting the Imperius Curse. But Sirius was too close to victory...  
  
'No!' He bellowed, shaking the spell off. He took his frustration out on three unfortunate Death Eaters, performing a full body-lock on them. He reached the doors, wrenched them open, and dashed out. Behind him, he knew that Remus was preventing anyone from following him, and Snape was doing the same.  
  
Sirius hurtled through the prison, his eyes darting around, trying to figure out where the central chamber was. He reached a stone staircase, and practically flew down it, almost breaking his neck in the process. He turned right, and ran on for about half a minute, then swerved left. He knew he was heading towards the centre, every bone in his body was urging him onwards...  
  
He did not realise he was in the central chamber until he was half-way across it. For one thing, he had not expected it to be unguarded. For another thing, he had expected it to take longer to reach. But no matter. His eyes fell upon the pedestal in the centre of the room.  
  
It was about five feet tall, and made from a smooth, black rock, with some thin veins of green and white threaded through it. In a small hollow in the centre of the pedestal sat a black ball, made from glass. It was about the size of a quaffle, and Sirius was amazed that so tiny a thing could control the evil of the Dementors. Slowly, he walked over to the pedestal, and gazed into the orb.  
  
The orb was filled with memories of evil, pain and despair. After a second, Sirius reeled backwards, the force of these emotions almost overcoming him.  
  
'You hardly thought I would let you walk in here and take it, did you, Black?'  
  
Voldemort and about twenty Death Eaters had apparated around him. The followers of Lord Voldemort were holding Remus, Bill, Snape, Tonks, Eva, Oliver, Charlie, and Arthur Weasley, all of whom watched Sirius in dismay. Sirius himself felt fear and despair creeping up on him, and knew the Dementors were on their way. So he did the only thing that he could think of.  
  
'I challenge you to a duel!' He shouted at Voldemort, 'If I win, you set my friends free and let me destroy the Dementors.'  
  
'And if you lose', Voldemort said, narrowing his eyes, 'what then? This had better be good, Black.'  
  
Sirius hesitated for a moment, and exchanged a glance with Remus, who shook his head slightly.  
  
'If you win, you can kill all of them', Sirius replied softly, 'and I'll deliver Harry Potter to you.'  
  
There was a collective gasp-even Voldemort looked surprised. 'It seems that the Potter boy will be joining us sooner than expected', he said with a smirk, 'Black, you cannot beat me. I am the most powerful wizard on earth.'  
  
'You forget Albus Dumbledore', Sirius retorted, 'come on, Riddle! No Unforgiveable Curses, but everything else is allowed.'  
  
'Very well, Sirius Black. Move out of the way, Wormtail, unless you want to be blasted into oblivion along with your old friend Black. Now we bow...'  
  
Sirius bowed, gritting his teeth as he did so.  
  
'Sirius, no!' Tonks sobbed.  
  
'Silence!' Voldemort roared. 'Stupefy!'  
  
Sirius dodged the jet of red light that shot from Voldemort's wand, and retaliated with a curse of his own. 'Tantallegra!' He bellowed. Voldemort nimbly skipped out of the way of Sirius' spell, and aimed two more curses that Sirius did not know, at his opponent, but missed. Sirius fired three stunners at his enemy, but Voldemort used a shielding spell to deflect them, leaving Sirius to dodge once more.  
  
And then, suddenly, a dozen Death Eaters apparated between Voldemort and Sirius. Sirius' eyes fell on one in particular, and his jaw dropped.  
  
Bellatrix Lestrange and her comrades, who had attacked Harry in the Department of Mysteries, were standing in the middle of the duel.  
  
'It took some work, master', Lucius Malfoy said apologetically, 'but we managed to kill our guards.'  
  
'We made them touch the Dark Marks', Bellatrix said, grinning in a deranged manner, 'they couldn't stand the pain.'  
  
'Bellatrix', Voldemort said coldly, 'look behind you, and see who I am current duelling with.'  
  
The dark-haired witch spun around, and saw Sirius. Her eyes travelled from his determined face, to the wand in his hand.  
  
'But...'she hissed, 'but you lost your magic! I pushed you.'  
  
'Get out of the way, Bellatrix, I'm busy with your master.' Sirius growled.  
  
Voldemort ordered the group out of the way, and Sirius immediately aimed a body-locking curse at his enemy. Voldemort dodged it, but it hit the unprepared Lucius Malfoy straight in the chest. His limbs snapped together, and he toppled to the ground.  
  
For some time, the duel went on, and neither wizard could gain the upper hand. Voldemort did not like to see that he couold be so easily matched. 'You know my secret, Black', he hissed, 'you know only Harry Potter is of any danger to me. So why do you bother to fight me?'  
  
'Expelliarmus!' Sirius roared. Voldemort's wand flew out of his hand, and whacked off the opposite wall. Voldemort let out a shriek of rage, and Peter Pettigrew ran forward to give him his wand. Sirius, who was busy performing the rather complicated freezing-spell, and was entirely focused on Voldemort, failed to notice his own cousin Bellatrix reaching for her wand.  
  
'AVADA KEDAVRA!' The insane witch screamed.  
  
In the seconds that followed, a lot of things happened.  
  
Remus elbowed his guard in the face, and managed to break free, although his hands were still bound. He sprinted towards Sirius, to knock him out of the way.  
  
Voldemort pulled the wand from Wormtail's hand, but suddenly found the wand of another pointed at his throat; Snape had disarmed his Death Eater, and apparated right beside the Dark Lord.  
  
In utter terror, the Death Eaters who had just arrived made some sort of signal, and out of the shadows (they seemed to come out of the very walls), fifty Dementors appeared.  
  
Sirius stood transfixed, unable to move, watching his death come closer every millisecond. He was knocked violently off his feet by Remus, and the Killing Curse hit...  
  
No. It couldn't be. Sirius pushed Remus away and staggered to his feet.  
  
'Sirius!'  
  
The victim of the Killing Curse turned to face Sirius Black, who could not believe his eyes.  
  
'Harry...'  
  
'Avada Kedavra!' Bellatrix, having seen Harry Potter appear from nowhere, take the brunt of Avada Kedavra and still able to stand up straight, tried again, this time aiming for Harry.  
  
The curse hit Harry in the back. Sirius let out an anguished yell, as Harry lost his balance momentarily, and stumbled forwards. His godson seemed to be glowing with a strange light, and instead of looking distressed, flashed a grin at Sirius, then quickly turned around.  
  
'Avada Kedavra!' The shout came from Harry, and it was followed by a flash of green light and a horrendous scream. Everyone watched, dumbstruck, as Voldemort was surrounded by the green light, and it began to suffocate him. He put up a hell of a fight, but Sirius knew that he was no longer a threat. Striding forwards, he grabbed the orb from its pedestal, and threw it to the ground, between Peter and Bellatrix.  
  
The orb smashed into a million pieces, and the Dementors evaporated with an unearthly shriek. Black, acrid smoke, and dreadful sounds of torture filled the chamber. Peter and Bellatrix, along with the paralysed Lucius Malfoy and four or five other Death Eaters, were enveloped in the smoke and simply ceased to be. The remaining Death Eaters began to disapparate, left without any strength or a leader.  
  
The foundations began to shake.  
  
'We have to get out!' Sirius roared.  
  
'Sirius...' Harry, who had been simply staring in disbelief at the scene around him, swayed, and Sirius caught him as he fell. Tonks, Eva, Snape, Bill, Charlie, Arthur and Oliver all raced towards the chamber door. Remus, Sirius and Harry left last. As Remus sealed the doors with a strong enchantment, Sirius saw one last huge flash of green light, and heard a hideous howl.  
  
Lord Voldemort was gone.  
  
They sprinted from the fortress, and had reached the shore before they realised they had no way to return to the main land.  
  
'I'll sort it', Remus announced, 'I'll send a message to Dumbledore-on a paper aeroplane.'  
  
While Remus busied himself with getting them home, Sirius laid Harry gently on the ground. The boy was shivering violently, and was a ghastly shade of white.  
  
'Harry', Sirius whispered, 'how did you get here?'  
  
'I...was dreaming....but when I....d-destroyed V-Voldemort, I woke up....here', Harry replied, his teeth chattering, 'I almost died Sirius....I thought I saw my parents for a second-'  
  
'Shhhh', Sirius said gently, 'guess what?'  
  
'Wh-what?' Harry opened his eyes a fraction, and looked at his godfather.  
  
'I got my magic back', Sirius replied, 'because your Mum advised me what to do beyond the veil, and my choice made me the anti-Voldemort, I guess. And guess what else?'  
  
'Mmm.' Harry was losing consciousness.  
  
'Remus is going to be teaching you Defence Against the Dark Arts next term!'  
  
*************************  
  
That's it-there will be one more chapter, describing exactly what happened with the whole Harry appearing , Voldemort vanishing thing, plus telling you what happens to them all afterwards. please review, I wanna know what u think! 


End file.
